The Fall of Me And You
by BassFriday
Summary: When Arthur's uncle Gorlois and his cousin Morgana visit from Cornwall to celebrate the prince's 23rd birthday, it is the beginning of a new era in the war for magic. Merlin himself is emotionally invested in the conflict - not only because of his magic, but because of his involvement with the Lady Morgana, who captivates him from the very first time they meet. Eventually Mergana.
1. The Delegation From Cornwall

**AN:** Hey guys, so this is the first Merlin fanfic of mine that I'm publishing. I wrote the layout for each chapter a couple of years ago. And although the time is never right for me to write anything, the first chapter is here! Hopefully the next will be out sooner rather than later.

In this story, Merlin has been working at the castle for almost two years, Arthur and him have had many adventures together, and are good friends. Arthur and Gwen are kinda together, but also very careful to keep their relationship hidden. Also, english is not my first language, so I apologize if there are sentences in the story that makes no sense, it would be really helpful if you point that out to me, so I don't continue making a mistake :)

* * *

When Merlin woke up he quickly became aware of two things. One, Gaius was calling his name and shaking his shoulder to rouse him. Two, something really smelly was close by and it only intensified when he turned on his side and cradled his pillow in his arms, or did he? This thing seemed far too hard to be his pillow, and sure enough, when he cracked his eye open he was horrified to discover that it was in fact Arthur's boot he had been cuddling with in his sleep.

He jerked away from the prince's left boot and nearly fell out of bed. Meanwhile Gaius opened the window in his room and let sunlight fall on his apprentice's confused body. Merlin shot up when he felt the suns warm light on his forehead. "What time is it?" He asked disoriented and put on the newly washed shirt he had laid out the night before.

"Late! You should have been up an hour ago." Gaius said and handed him the other boot which had fallen under the bed while Merlin had slept.

The young warlock took off as soon as he had both boots in his possession, and hurried out of the court physician's chamber and into the main part of the castle. While hurrying towards Arthur's room, he noticed how the castle was buzzing with life – everywhere around him people were bringing in newly plucked flowers, or dusting of the floors – it seemed he was the last person to be up.

He reached Prince Arthur's chamber breathlessly, and waited a minute before entering to calm his beating heart. When he opened the door it nearly hit the prince who had been standing on the other side.

"There you are _Mer_ lin! I have been waiting for you for the last hour! Been to the tavern all night have you?" Arthur exclaimed and pulled his manservant inside.

"What? No! I was up all night polishing your boots!"

Arthur looked at said boots and ripped them out of Merlin's grip. "Well it's a about time!" The prince said, "I had to dress myself."

"What a disaster." Merlin muttered and closed the door behind him. When Arthur had gotten on the boots, he turned to his manservant, "Well, how do I look?"

 _Like you dressed yourself for the first time in years_ , Merlin thought. "Excellent Sire, although I think your tunic could be bound a little better." He said and helped his friend with the few things he had forgotten or done badly.

A horn sounded from outside by the gates, and the both of them looked up. "Seems they're here already," Arthur said and walked out the door with Merlin right behind him.

The warlock noticed the skip in his friend's step, and how quickly he had forgotten about him being late, and he could only think that is was because of their guests. "Are you excited to see your uncle?" Merlin asked as the two of them walked down one of the many stairs in the castle.

"Very," Arthur said with a smile. "I'm hoping my cousins decided to come as well; I haven't seen them in two years!"

"Where did you say they were from my Lord?"

Arthur laughed, "Did you flush that out of your head with all the drinking _Mer_ lin?" The prince received a bump on the shoulder which he surprisingly did not return. "They're from Cornwall, my uncle Gorlois is the duke." Merlin nodded his head, vaguely remembering Arthur having told him some time yesterday.

They made it outside just as a smaller delegation of men on horses rode into the castle's courtyard. King Uther was already there, standing with a smaller army of nobles and servants behind him, Merlin could see Gwen amongst them. Arthur took place beside his father, and Merlin stood slightly behind the both of them.

A kind looking man was in the lead, dressed in blue robes with beautiful patterns and with what Merlin believed to be the crest of Cornwall. He was the first to get down from his horse and Uther stepped forward to greet him with open arms. "Gorlois!"

"Uther!" The slightly shorter man said and accepted the King's hug happily.

Arthur had followed close behind, and as soon as Uther stepped back from the Duke of Cornwall, the prince greeted Gorlois with just as much energy as his father had, "Uncle!" He said with his head buried in the older man's shoulder.

Merlin was surprised to feel the need to look away, with such a blatant display of love between two people who had not seen each other for years, he felt like he was intruding on something private.

Gorlois broke away from the embrace, but did not let go of the young prince, instead he held him outstretched in front of him and looked him over.

"My, you have grown up to be quite the man Arthur. You must have a throng of suiters, eh?" He joked.

Arthur blushed and thanked his uncle.

"They grow up too fast, huh?" Gorlois said with a smile to Uther.

"Certainly," The King said, and looked his son over as well. Merlin could see his friend's embarrassment as he shuffled from foot to foot. "Speaking of children," Uther said and turned back to the duke, "haven't you forgotten to bring someone with you?"

Arthur's interest piqued at this, and both he and Merlin leaned closer to hear his answer. Although he had forgotten where this extended family came from, it was impossible to forget about Arthur's cousins Morgause and Morgana, for the prince had been talking nonstop about them since it had been announced that a delegation from Cornwall was visiting. And now the warlock could see the disappointment written across his friend's face at the prospect that none of them had come along.

"Morgause decided to stay in Cornwall, you know how she is, never takes the time to have some fun for once, she's all business that one." Gorlois said. "Morgana should be here in a couple of hours, she had an errand to do on the way here, and we split up last night."

Both Uther and Arthur looked relieved at this and the King sent some stable boys to take the horses to the stables. Arthur put a hand on Merlin's shoulder and pushed him forward. "Uncle, this is my manservant Merlin, he will show you to your room, and if you need anything at all he will help you."

The Duke of Cornwall gave him a smile and a nod, "Well Uther, I would like to get settled in my chambers before we start catching up."

"Of course," the king said "I will have your baggage carried up to your room, and then we can meet in the dining room in half an hour?"

"Excellent!"

* * *

And so Merlin guided Arthur's uncle through the castle and to the wing where they had the most extravagant guest rooms. On the way there the duke suddenly asked the manservant a question.

"Merlin, how long have you been working as Prince Arthur's manservant?"

Surprised that the Duke of Cornwall wanted to know anything about him at all, Merlin paused before answering. "I've been working here for almost two years now my Lord." He said quietly. "Ahh, well then that's why I can't remember you, I haven't been here in two years."

They were nearing his assigned chambers, when Merlin decided to ask "Do you like it here my Lord?"

The Duke stopped walking and looked at him thoughtfully, and for a second Merlin was afraid that he had offended him by asking. "Camelot is certainly a beautiful place, although it has a violent history. I must say, I come here only for the company."

Surprised by how honest Gorlois was with him, Merlin fell behind a couple of steps. "My Lord, if I may ask, what is Cornwall like? I've never been, and I can't say I've heard much about it."

"Well," the Duke started "Cornwall, is right next to the ocean, so you can always hear the sound of the sea. It is what I miss the most whenever I leave, and I have a hard time falling asleep without it." Merlin, who had never travelled farther than from Ealdor to Camelot, listened carefully. "Almost half of the citizens are fishermen, and if you concentrate hard enough, you can always catch the scent of fish no matter where you are."

The young warlock was so fascinated by the other man's description of Cornwall that he nearly led the two of them past the guest room meant for him. He didn't notice until the duke himself stopped walking. "I believe this is where I'm staying Merlin, am I right?"

Surprised, Merlin looked to where the other man was standing, and his cheeks turned red in embarrassment at having not even been able to lead someone to their room. "Yes, I'm sorry," He muttered, "what you said of your home just captivated me."

"I'm glad," the Duke said with a smile and opened the door to his chamber "and I hope you get to see it one day, you would be very welcome."

Shortly after, Merlin was headed back to the dining room, where he and Gwen half an hour later helped serve a light lunch for Arthur, his uncle and the King. Both he and Gwen listened carefully as Gorlois told about how Cornwall just six months ago had destroyed a fleet of ships led by the Danes. Gwen, just like he himself, had never seen the ocean and the two of them laughed at each other's expression caused by their rapt attention, whenever Arthur's uncle told one of his entertaining stories.

After a couple of hours, the King and Gorlois retreated to talk more privately. When it was only Arthur, Merlin and Gwen left in the room, the two servants took the abandoned seats by the table.

"Arthur? Have you ever visited Cornwall?" Gwen asked and put her hand on his arm. Arthur blushed a little at the intimate touch in front of Merlin. But he ignored it, well knowing that his manservant had seen them act much more scandalous.

"I have. From when I was eight till I turned eleven, I spent all of my summers there." He said, smiling fondly at the memory of it.

"Why did you stop?" Merlin asked.

Arthur turned his gaze to the table, "Vivienne, Gorlois' wife, and Morgause and Morgana's mother died just before I turned twelve. It was very hard for my uncle and the girls. We attended the funeral of course, but Gorlois needed time to overcome his grief, and I don't think he could handle looking after Camelot's only heir just after having lost his wife."

Gwen squeezed his hand in support, and he gave her a grateful smile. "The next year I was welcomed back for a couple of weeks, but father had me compete in the jousting tournament for the first time that year. And he never said it, but I think he thought it too risky to send his only son so far away, so that was that."

They sat in silence for a while, with Merlin thinking over what his friend had said. He wondered if Vivienne had almost been like a mother to Arthur, the way he had talked about her, certainly suggested that he had cared very much for her.

"Do you think she'll remember me?" Gwen asked suddenly, and the young warlock felt like he had missed something, which his face probably expressed.

Arthur, who was just about to answer, was interrupted by his manservant.

"Whom?"

"Morgana," Gwen answered "I was here the last time they visited. I've worked here a lot longer than you have, remember?" She teased.

Just then, a faraway sounding horn broke the silence of their evening and not a minute later, Sir Leon poked his head inside the room and announced that a single rider was approaching the castle.

"That will be her." Arthur said and stood up, suddenly full of energy again.

* * *

 **AN:** So that's the first chapter. If you liked it please leave a review, and if you didn't like it please leave a review anyway ;)


	2. The Lady Morgana

**AN:** This must have been one of my quickest updates to a story ever, and between this chapter and the first I even had an oral exam (which went REALLY well) and several days after, where I did literally nothing. But here it is and I hope you enjoy it. I certainly enjoyed reading your kind reviews.

* * *

As they were standing by the end of the main stairs that led to the castle's entrance. Merlin found himself getting rather excited to meet this Lady Morgana himself, now that he was obviously one of the last people in the castle to do so.

In front of him was Arthur, with Leon by his side, while he and Gwen were standing a little behind them, as was respectful and correct when greeting visiting nobles. Uther and Gorlois were nowhere to be seen, perhaps they were so caught up in their catching up that they hadn't heard the announcement.

They could hear the sound of hooves now, and seconds later they saw her ride through the gate that led to the courtyard. The small woman sitting on top of the white mare was nothing like Merlin had imagined. Not that he _had_ imagined much, but he had a hard time believing that anyone even slightly related to the dollopheaded Prince, could be this _beautiful_.

She was wearing a green cape with holes for her arms. Her hair was black, much like his own, and set in a high ponytail, showing of her cheekbones and smooth looking jaw. When her horse stopped a couple of feet from the Prince, Merlin could see that her eyes were green and he was surprised to see a sword hanging from a belt by her side.

"Arthur!" The young woman exclaimed and made the horse stop right in front of the prince.

Sir Leon stepped forward quickly, taking the reins that she was holding with only one hand, while Arthur walked up to her and offered her a hand to get down, which she gratefully took.

"Morgana" Arthur beamed and threw his arms around her as soon as she was on the ground. The younger woman stiffened a little in the embrace, and the prince held her out in front of him, "What? You're not happy to see me _Morgana_?" he teased.

"Of course I am _Arthur_ , I just don't want you injuring my arm any more than it already is." She explained and held out her right arm for them to see. The warlock immediately realized why she had been holding the reins with only one hand; her right arm was wrapped tightly in makeshift bandage.

Arthur reached out his hand to touch it, but Morgana quickly pulled it back and held it to her chest. "Don't touch it," She whined "You'll probably break it."

"How did you even manage to get that?"

She sighed "I'll tell you later."

"That's why you let me help you down!" The prince smirked, "I almost thought being away from me had somehow mentally damaged you into being a nicer person."

Morgana's left hand quickly shot up and hit him in the shoulder, "Quite the opposite really, I think I can already feel my brain taking damage from being in your presence."

Merlin let out a barely noticeable laugh, but it was loud enough for the two cousins who both looked at him, Arthur in annoyance while Morgana only looked at him curiously. Her gaze left his quickly and wandered to rest on Gwen.

"Guinevere!" She said and stepped past Arthur, making sure to bump her shoulder into his. Gwen smiled brightly as the Lady took her hand and squeezed it gently. "I have so been looking forward to seeing you again."

Gwen blushed, and muttered a "Thank you" and a "me too".

"And who is this?" The young woman asked and turned to Merlin. The warlock opened his mouth to answer, when Arthur interrupted him.

"This? This is Merlin, my manservant, and also the most idiotic person to inhabit Camelot in a thousand years." Arthur said and threw his arm around his servant's shoulder.

"Prat." Merlin muttered and shook his friends arm off.

"He sounds quite smart to me." Morgana snickered and offered the warlock her hand to shake.

"Ha ha ha." Arthur mocked and turned back to his cousin "So, do you want to stay out here all day with _clever_ Merlin, or do you want Gaius to take a look at your arm before our fathers do?"

* * *

In front of him Morgana and Gwen were walking arm in arm headed for the court physicians chamber, catching up and talking about how they had been for the last two years. Behind him, Arthur was going in the opposite direction to tell Gorlois and his father that she had arrived.

Not having been given any orders, Merlin decided to go with his friend and the Lady Morgana to see Gaius. He was very curious about her. Before meeting her, he had imagined her to be like any other noble woman walking the halls of the castle with their nose in the air. But she seemed so different from that, so much . . . _better_.

She had remembered Gwen, and was now talking to her as if they were friends, as if they were equals. And she had shaken his own hand when they met, something that no one important had ever done before. But best of all, she seemed to like to tease Arthur as much as he did.

They arrived at Gaius' and Morgana knocked softly on the door and entered when he said "Come in." Gwen and Merlin followed, both feeling like they were intruding but not having been dismissed or told differently.

Merlin's teacher and trusted friend muttered a quiet "Yes?", from his position at the table with his nose in a book. He looked up at the sound of their shuffling feet crossing the threshold, and his face split into a smile at the sight of them. Or rather, the sight of _her_.

"Morgana!" He exclaimed and quickly got up to greet her, the physician reached out for her hands but she surprised him by throwing both her arms around him. "It's good to see you Gaius, it's been too long." Morgana said into his shoulder.

"Too long? It's been forever." Gaius said and released the woman in his arms, catching the wince she made as she put her arm back safely against her chest. "Now what do we have here?" He said and motioned for the Lady Morgana to sit down. Merlin and Guinevere closed the door behind them and sat at the other side of the table, both curious at their guests predicament.

"You have been here for all of a couple of minutes, and you've already managed to get yourself injured," Gaius scolded and carefully took the arm Morgana offered. He unwrapped the temporary bandage carefully, and when he removed it completely, Merlin could see the clean cut on her pale arm that could only be made by a blade.

He was puzzled, who would attack someone like the Lady Morgana? And this close to Camelot? His guardian looked just as curious as he did, and Gaius gave Merlin a quick look.

"Guinevere?" He finally said, "Could you bring me some fresh water to clean the wound with?"

"Of course." Gwen said and hurried out of the room, almost tripping over the full bucket of relatively fresh water on the floor. _Ahh_ , Merlin thought, noticing how Gaius usually sent Gwen away when something was about to be said that she wasn't supposed to hear. He moved closer to the two of them eager to hear what was about to be said.

"Ehh, Merlin, perhaps you could find something new to secure this with? I have some new bandages somewhere in my chamber." Gaius said, returning his attention to the task at hand. Slightly surprised at having been dismissed just like Gwen, it took Merlin a second before he turned on his feet and wandered reluctantly into his guardians room.

Just as he stepped into the room, he heard Gaius ask his new patient about how she had ended up with the cut, and Merlin hurried out of sight behind the door and held his breath to hear her answer.

There was a slight pause before the Lady Morgana answered, "I was visiting the druid camp closest to the boarder of Nemeth. I have some friends who live there, and I wanted to check up on them. I guess I wanted to see if they were still alive and well." Merlin could hear bitterness in her voice. Silence followed and the young warlock imagined Gaius examining the wound closer.

"You know Morgana," the physician started, "Uther hasn't attacked druid camps for many years, I think he is starting to realize that they don't exist to cause him or Camelot harm".

"Maybe. Or perhaps he lets them live so close to enemy boarders in the hopes that they'll be killed by someone else other than him. In fact, some of them would have been if I hadn't shown up when I did, but of course I knew that."

"You have them still?" Gaius asked curiously, and Merlin leaned his head against the door hoping to find out what _them_ was. The action however sent the door forward as well and the creak it made silenced everything.

Thinking quickly, Merlin opened the door completely to find both Gaius and the Lady Morgana looking at him, "I can't find them Gaius, are you sure they're in here?" He said, hoping to sound convincing. The physician sighed and turned back to his work. "They're in a basket close to the bookshelf Merlin, they should be quite easy to see."

Looking into the room over his shoulder, Merlin saw that they were actually right there in the corner next to the bookcase, few feet from where he had been eavesdropping. He took the time to find some good looking and big enough ones, meanwhile hoping that the conversation would continue in the other room, but it seemed he had ruined his chance to find out more.

Just as he returned to the table with the bandages, Gwen came back with the bucket of water and sat it in front of Gaius who let a clean cloth soak in it, and started cleaning away the blood on the Lady Morgana's arm to better see the wound. While he cleaned the wound and later covered it in a salve, to keep it from getting infected, Merlin and Gwen listened as the physician and their guest talked quietly.

As Gaius fastened the bandage with a needle, the door opened and Arthur walked in. "My father nearly ran to your room to greet you, but I told him you were getting ready for dinner so I've bought you about an hour." He said and put his hand on his cousin head and messed up her hair, "Although it will take you much longer to look even slightly decent."

The Lady Morgana pushed his hand away in annoyance and scowled at him. Arthur turned his attention to the physician "What do you say Gaius, will she live?" He asked in mock concern with a smirk on his face. His grin disappeared quickly though when a fist hit him in the stomach and made him double over.

Gaius laughed quietly and patted his patients arm, "There, I've finished now." he told her. "And I think the Lady Morgana will recover quite well."

"Thank you Gaius, you're always so kind to me." Morgana said and squeezed the court physicians arm.

She stood up and Gwen followed suit and opened the door for her. "Where will be having dinner?" She asked Arthur.

"Just the small dining room. We'll save the large one for tomorrow, for your welcoming party."

* * *

An hour later Merlin found himself in the small dining room where Arthur and Uther usually dined, except this time the table was set for four people instead of two. And so far the two Pendragons were the only ones to arrive.

No sooner had Merlin thought that, when the door opened and Duke Gorlois entered the room with his daughter by his side. The young warlock completely missed the smile that broke out on his King's face, for he was finding it hard to look away from the Lady Morgana. Her hair was gathered into a braid that rested on her shoulder, and her riding clothes had been replaced by a beautiful green dress with long sleeves, that nicely covered up her newly acquired wound.

"Morgana!" Uther exclaimed and stepped forward to embrace her and kiss her on the cheek. Merlin noticed how she stiffened slightly at his touch, and he did not think that it was because of her injury. "Uther," She said once he released her "it's been too long."

"It certainly has," the King agreed "and I'm so glad to have you here. Both of you."

Gorlois nodded and gestured to the table "Shall we?"

"Yes of course!" Uther nodded and held out a chair for Morgana to sit on.

When they were done with their dinner, the two Pendragons and their guests sat in silence for a while, enjoying the company until Gorlois quietly said "I am so happy that we could arrange this, sitting here with you, I realize how long it's been."

"I agree." Uther said and drank from his wine goblet.

"Ygraine would have wanted us to meet more often, she always cared so much about family." Gorlois thought out loud and looked deeply into his own goblet.

Uther smiled nostalgically "Your sister knew what was important here in life, we should make more of an effort to see each other."

Gorlois nodded and raised his goblet into the air, the others were quick to follow his lead.

"To family." He said.

"To family!"

* * *

AN: So that's the second chapter. I hope you caught on to how I made Arthur and Morgana cousins, if not then I'll quickly explain it. I've made Gorlois and Ygraine siblings, they aren't on the show or in any of the original stories, so that's just my idea. So Gorlois kind of replace Agravaine as Arthur's uncle, because that guy is a creep and I did not want him in this story haha. Ygraine died during childbirth just as on the show, and as I explained in the first chapter, Vivienne died when Morgana was ten.


End file.
